Lightbridge receives patent allowance for CANDU reactor fuel design

Lightbridge Corporation (NASDAQ: LTBR) announced it received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for U.S. Patent Application No. 18/383,668, titled "Fuel Assembly."

The patent application covers 16 claims for fuel assemblies and nuclear reactors incorporating Lightbridge's spirally twisted, multi-lobed fuel element technology designed for pressurized heavy-water reactors, including CANDU-type designs.

The allowed claims describe a fuel assembly with elongated fuel elements featuring a spirally twisted, multi-lobed profile that defines spiral ribs. Each fuel element contains a fuel kernel with fissile material in a metal non-fuel material matrix, surrounded by cladding, with a moderator-to-fuel ratio of 2.4 or less.

The patent covers both the fuel assembly and a nuclear reactor incorporating the assembly in a pressurized heavy water reactor. This application is a divisional of U.S. Patent Application No. 17/237,683, now issued as U.S. Patent No. 11,837,371, part of a patent family that includes four previously issued U.S. patents.

"This Notice of Allowance further strengthens our U.S. intellectual property portfolio, particularly for our multi-lobed fuel element design optimized for pressurized heavy water reactors," said Seth Grae, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lightbridge Corporation.

Lightbridge develops advanced nuclear fuel technology for existing light-water and pressurized heavy-water reactors. The company has framework agreements with Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, the Department of Energy's operating contractor for Idaho National Laboratory.

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